In many types of vehicle, the seats can be situated in greatly varying fashion in the passenger compartment, depending on how many persons are to be transported, or how much stowage space is required. In this way, the vehicle can be used both as a passenger vehicle and for transporting cargo, depending on the situation. Here, the different seat configurations are not only determined by the installation and removal of the vehicle seats to and from positions that are predetermined for the respective seat; rather, in many vehicle types known from practical use the individual seats can also be mounted at various positions in the passenger compartment and then additionally moved parallel to the longitudinal axis of the vehicle. It is often also possible to freely select the orientation of a vehicle seat in, or opposite, the direction of travel, either through corresponding mounting or by rotating the mounted seat.
In order to improve the protection of the vehicle occupants, seats of this type that can be installed variably in the passenger compartment are also to be equipped with restraint means, such as e.g. shoulder and lap safety belts, lateral thoracic protection, etc. This proves to be problematic in particular given a larger number of components of the restraint means. As a rule, motor vehicles are equipped with a central control device that carries out the overall coordination of the controlling and actuation of restraint means in the motor vehicle. In a conventional wiring of the restraint means of a vehicle seat, the associated actuating (ignition) circuits and firing actuators are connected to the central control device when the seat is installed in the passenger compartment. The electrical contacting takes place via a relatively complicated plug connection, having a large number—depending on the number of restraint means components that are to be contacted—of plug pins. As a rule, such plug connections are not sufficiently robust to withstand the mechanical stresses caused by the repeated installation and removal of the seat, and the unavoidable introduction of dirt that occurs during these operations. Additional mechanical stresses can occur for example due to the entry of foreign objects, or during the cleaning of the plug connection parts.